Your Likeability – Do you interact
effectively with a wide range of people?

Your Integrity - Are you honest, reliable and
ethical in your conduct?

Your Intelligence – Do you have the ability
to learn and process information and make informed
decisions?

Your Drive – Do you have the capacity for
sustained self-motivation and the ability to
encourage the efforts of others?

Your Willingness to Sacrifice – Do you
dedicate your time and effort required to meet
corporate objectives?

To advance in your career you don’t need to be the
smartest or most knowledgeable, although these are
important advantages. The key question is:

Have you learned the importance of developing
relationships - with customers, colleagues and
superiors?

Your ability to cultivate strong relationships with
other people up and down the reporting structure, as
well as with outside parties is a key factor in your
career progress.
It is just as important to cultivate relationships
as it is to cultivate knowledge and produce results.
In cases of mentorship, someone has taken a liking
to an aspiring individual, identified with them, and
is motivated to see that person succeed in their
chosen field.

Who gets promoted first?

The four most important factors in determining how
fast you are promoted:

How top management feels about the person who
recommended your promotion.

Your exposure and visibility to those in higher
management.

Your background, education and work experience.

How well you perform in your present job.

Top performers in all fields have these qualities
in common:

They transcend their previous performances.

They never get too comfortable.

They enjoy their work as an art.

They rehearse things mentally beforehand.

They don't focus on placing blame.

They are able to withstand uncertainty.

- Develop a relationship with a person who can act
as a mentor,
and who can help you progress in your career
- Take on challenging projects with a degree of risk
associated
with them - it raises your profile in the company
- Volunteer to train new people, orienting them to
the company;
show personal initiative and make your own
supervisor's or manager's
job easier
- Excel in your work and develop relationships
within the company
in other departments, developing a reputation as a
go-to person
for problem-solving
- Offer to do extra work during the month-end or end
of the quarter
at reports preparation time - people remember that
willingness
to go the extra mile for the department
- Work at the company's tradeshows and attend
industry events where your
presence can be noticed by people in positions of
authority - become a
familiar face to them

Managers are made not born. The best ones combine
education and experience and the ability to enthuse
and motivate other people to achieve goals. Degrees
in business and continuing industry education are
helpful.

Management courses taken at your own expense are
another step forward and in dedicating the time
required to take them you show uncommon initiative
and self-motivation. Night courses in community
college offer numerous options for this type of
training.

Ultimately, in order to be promoted, you need to
have a track-record of accomplishment, the drive to
work harder than the people that you are managing
and, possibly most important, people must respect
and like you enough in higher management to see you
moving upwards.